Wanda Diaz Merced studies the light emitted by gamma-ray bursts, the most energetic events in the universe. When she lost her sight and was left without a way to do her science, she had a revelatory insight: the light curves she could no longer see could be translated into sound. Through sonification, she regained mastery over her work, and now she’s advocating for a more inclusive scientific community. "Science is for everyone," she says. "It has to be available to everyone, because we are all natural explorers."

Basecamp CEO Jason Fried says too many people find it difficult to get work done at the workplace. His company enforces quiet offices, fewer meetings, and different collaboration and communication practices. The goal is to give employees bigger blocks of time to be truly productive.

"The actual path of a raindrop as it goes down the valley is unpredictable, but the general direction is inevitable," says digital visionary Kevin Kelly — and technology is much the same, driven by patterns that are surprising but inevitable. Over the next 20 years, he says, our penchant for making things smarter and smarter will have a profound impact on nearly everything we do. Kelly explores three trends in AI we need to understand in order to embrace it and steer its development. "The most popular AI product 20 years from now that everyone uses has not been invented yet," Kelly says. "That means that you’re not late."

Dan and Haddie talk to Andy Baio and Andy McMillan about the 2013 XOXO conference September 19th-22nd in Portland, OR, and discuss broader issues including the courage it takes to produce an independent event, the risks and rewards of collaborating with like-minded people, dealing with the fear of success, and more.

Can problems like poverty and climate change by fixed through games? Visionary game designer Jane McGonigal thinks they can. With more than 174 million gamers in the United States, McGonigal explores how we can save the world through the power of gaming. McGonigal is helping pioneer the fasting-growing genre of games that turns gameplay to achieve socially positive outcomes.

This program was recorded in collaboration with the Commonwealth Club of California, on January 24, 2011.

Jane McGonigal is the director of games research and development at the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, California. She has created and deployed games and missions in more than 30 countries on six continents. She specializes in games that help gamers enjoy their real lives more — and games that challenge players to tackle real-world problems, through planetary-scale collaboration.

McGonigal is the author of the newly released book, Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World.

The feature is taken from one of The American Life’s Classified specials, where all of the content from the show is harvested from one day’s classified ads in the local Chicago papers. Here Jon Langford of The Mekons puts together a band of never met before musicians for a rendition of a classic tune.

There are lots of things I really like about this clip: the narrator’s amazing Dawson’s-Creek-meets-Juno delivery, the theremin player that likes to amaze people and then spurn their fawning adoration, but the cherry on top is reserved for the violin player who is in anger management. Have a listen.

The book "Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation" explores why certain environments seem to disproportionately spark the generation and sharing of good ideas. Author Steven Johnson joins us.